During the last few years, many academic libraries have accepted the challenge of helping their users locate and acquire the numeric data they need. To meet their users' ever-increasing need for data, librarians are purchasing data sets one at a time ("small data"). This service, though important to our users, raises many issues in the…

The economic downturn of 2007-08 forced many academic libraries in the United States to cancel journals. We surveyed life sciences librarians from ARL libraries to find out about their experiences with journal cancellations during 2008-12. Overall, we discovered that two factors were essential in decision-making: faculty consultations and data.…

A significant number of distance students report they "stray" from their home universities by using local libraries, despite the fact that distance education librarians work hard to provide customized resources and services tailored to their programs and needs. Are public libraries and special libraries able to meet the research needs of…

This volume celebrates the first decade of Council on Library and Information Resources' (CLIR) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program by bringing together 20 past and present CLIR postdoctoral fellows to share their thoughts on their experiences, and more broadly, on the direction of academia. Each essay is a look into the working conditions associated…

This study presents and analyzes the findings of a 2012 survey of member libraries belonging to the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) about publishers' large journal bundles and compares the results to earlier surveys. The data illuminate five research questions: market penetration, journal bundle construction, collection format shifts,…

The Public Libraries Survey (PLS) is a voluntary survey conducted annually by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). IMLS collects these data under the mandate in the Museum and Library Services Act of 2003 as stated in Section 210. The U.S. Census Bureau is the data collection agent for IMLS. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 survey is the…

This manual describes the methods, procedures, techniques, and activities that were used to produce the Academic Library Survey of 2004 (ALS:2004). This manual is designed to provide guidance and documentation for users of the ALS data. Included in the manual are the following: (1) an overview of the study and its predecessor studies; (2) an…

A survey of faculty and students to assess user needs and satisfaction with collections and selected library services is described and the resulting data are reported. Questionnaire construction, sampling and distribution, and response rate and factors are discussed. Data analysis is broken into major categories, which include responses to general…

Randomly selected faculty from four state universities in Texas were surveyed to determine the degree to which the library and its resources influenced their decisions to accept university positions. Responses to the questionnaire reveal that faculty may take libraries for granted, as they are not exploited in faculty recruitment. (Author/CLB)

Presents results of price survey of periodicals published in the United States and serial services. Tables are organized by subject categories to show number of titles included in the survey, rank order by average subscription price, and price increases. (LRW)

Provides periodical prices for 1993 and projects 1994 costs. Trends and projections, cost by country of origin, the role of foreign publications, currency fluctuations, and the basis for forecasting are discussed. Cost histories are given by subject area and country of publication. Prices of interest to smaller and public libraries are also given.…

Developed by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Video Audio Compressed (VIDAC) is a compressed time, variable rate, still picture television system. This technology made it possible for a centralized library of audiovisual materials to be transmitted over a television channel in very short periods of time. In order to establish specifications…

Presents the annual survey of prices for U.S. serial services for 1991 which was compiled in conjunction with the Faxon Company. Comparative data for 1977-91 are included for the areas of business, humanities, law, science and technology, social science, and documents, as well as serial services from the H.W. Wilson Company. (LRW)

The study described was designed to discern attitudes of undergraduate and graduate students toward existing library services and products to provide a basis for library program development aimed at increasing use and knowledge of services, products, and facilities. A survey questionnaire was administered during class sessions to obtain responses…

Four articles review the development of the MELVYL system, which began as the online catalog for the University of California campuses. Topics discussed include union catalogs; local library systems versus bibliographic utilities; retrospective conversion; MELVYL as a reference tool; and an online survey of remote use of MELVYL. (LRW)